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11-Book Strategy
In the latest official version of Master of Magic, using all 11 starting "picks" to select Spellbooks from a single Realm grants the player access to a unique feat. It allows starting the game with 3 spells of a higher Rarity than what would otherwise be available at the beginning of a campaign. Combined with a major reduction in the Casting Costs of these spells, the ability to actually choose them opens up many different strategies based around either a single, or a combination of spells that, when used very early in the game, can create a significant advantage for the player. Some of these are in fact so powerful, that they can allow even a novice to beat the game on the highest possible Difficulty setting. General Strategy Starting the game with 11 spellbooks of a single color yields the following initial profile traits: * The Fortress produces ; * All Common Spells of the selected Realm are already known; * 2 Uncommon Spells of choice are already known; * 1 Rare Spell spell of choice is already known; * The Wizard has a Spell Casting Skill of 22; * There is a 40% Casting Cost reduction on spells of the selected Realm (combined with the above, this means that any combat spell with a cost of up to is immediately usable, provided that it can be financed with ). If the higher rarity spells are chosen wisely, this combination allows gaining an extremely large advantage in the early game -- neutral Cities can be captured far earlier than would otherwise be possible, along with some magical Nodes, Towers of Wizardry, and other Encounter Zones. Even enemy Fortresses can be conquered if they can be reached before their controlling Wizard has built up sufficient defenses. While winning outright is not always possible (the most common problem being finding all of the opposing Wizards fast enough), this yields a huge advantage nonetheless, and can make even the hardest Difficulty settings more or less trivial to beat. Most 11-Book Strategies rely on creating a single potent unit, at the earliest possible opportunity, that cannot be defeated by early opponents. They need a means of crossing Oceans and, ideally, a means of changing Planes without breaking a Tower of Wizardry - as their guardians may be too strong to defeat. This puts and clearly above the other Realms, as they are the only two that can accomplish this feat with initial spells alone. While with six Towers on every map, there will nearly always be at least one that can be conquered with the other strategies, this may take some time to find, giving a Myrran opponent more time to grow in power. High Elves are the typical Race of choice because of the extra they generate; although other Races may work just as well, or even better, if the quickest victory is not the primary goal. Some of the strategies listed below also require specific other Races instead. In most cases though, the initial focus is on generating as much as possible at the very beginning of the game, to be able to cast spells that are overly powerful at that stage. This typically requires all to be invested into , in addition to using Alchemy and, in the official game, possibly early scouting for unguarded Encounter Zones. Even with High Elves, the initial income will be way below what can be spent in a turn - not to mention that many strategies rely at least partially on combat spells, which need an additional pool; while some of the signature spells have Upkeep Costs so high that they will eat up most of the starting income once they are in play. Scouting is also important because the earlier the other Wizards' capitals can be found, the less likely they will be to be able to counter any of the strategies. In addition, because all Common Spells are already known by the player, even the weakest Encounter Zones will award Uncommon and better ones instead, possibly increasing versatility over the initial selection. In fact, since the majority of Treasure rewards can be converted into one way or another, any Encounter Zone that is easy enough to clear is generally worth the effort or delay. On the other hand, battles with the forces of the AI players should be avoided whenever possible, except for sieges of their capitals. Their spells can hurt or delay most of the units or armies that the strategies below rely on, meaning that confrontation should be restricted to when it is absolutely necessary. Chaos Warped Chimeras Spells to select: (Uncommon), (Rare) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per unit); per battle Warp Reality will render Chimeras fairly invincible, while also leaving an Uncommon Spell slot open. However, this spell can not be cast with the initial Spell Casting Skill. As such, even though Chimeras may be summoned in only 10 turns, the player must make a choice whether to do so right away, or train their Skill up to 30 beforehand. The first option allows for some limited, but earlier conquests, mainly of neutral Towns and weak Encounter Zones, and possibly even a nearby rival Fortress. However, the Upkeep Cost of the Chimeras makes it much more difficult to develop Spell Casting Skill once the unit is in play, and will likely delay the full potential of this strategy unless alternative sources of can be secured. Both and are excellent choices for the remaining Uncommon Spell slot - the former can increase the output of the Chimeras even further, while the latter can help with capital defense or creating scouts that require no Upkeep. Alternatively, or may be somewhat useful before Warp Reality can be cast, as they are both stronger than the similar Common Spells. , while typically not a good investment, may actually be a worthy addition here depending on the circumstances, as they can cover for one of the Chimeras' weaknesses: their susceptibility to poison and petrification. Hell Hound Flood Spells to select: Any ( are a Common Spell) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per full stack of Hounds) Hell Hounds can take out most Cities at the start of the game, along with many weaker Encounter Zones - especially when summoned in great numbers. However, they lack an easy way to cross Oceans, and may not be able to clear a Tower of Wizardry without significant sacrifice. As such, this strategy will typically not work very well on smaller Land Size settings, despite the fact that it allows free choice of the higher rarity spells. Death Wraiths Spells to select: (Rare), (Uncommon) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per unit), per battle This is the second fastest way to win the game. Wraiths can defeat almost all Normal Units without any assistance. The penalty of Black Prayer eliminates much of the remainder, while at the same time making it easier for the Wraiths to recover lost through their Life Steal, and increasing the likelyhood of Undead being created from any defeated units. This saves resources from having to be spent on garrisoning captured Towns. Although most Fantastic Units are actually not worth keeping for more than a few turns due to their increased Upkeep Costs, they may still be useful if there is another, tougher battle nearby, in which they can assist. Unfortunately, Wraiths may not always be able reliably crack a Tower of Wizardry without help. Because of this, choosing as the second Uncommon Spell is highly recommended, as they have a native ability to Plane Shift, and can thus cross the Planar boundary without clearing a Tower. While they are slower and have a higher Upkeep Cost than Wraiths, they are also able to overcome almost all early game opposition, and can at the very least secure a foothold on Myrror, if not outright destroy any AI that started there. Shadow Demons Spells to select: (Uncommon) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per unit), per battle ( ) A single unit of Shadow Demons can safely defeat almost any neutral Town, along with most weaker Encounter Zones, including some , and the occasional Towers of Wizardry. Possessing Regeneration means that as long as they are victorious, these creatures can continue from battle to battle without having to stop and heal. More often than not, they will be able to conquer an enemy Fortress at the point that Fortress is discovered. The greatest shortcoming of Shadow Demons is their low Movement Allowance of only . However, this can be offset by pairing them up with a , which reverts the stack's Movement Type to Non-Corporeal, allowing the units to move two tiles per turn. This can also be combined with Plane Shift to explore both Planes faster, by moving the two units together once, and then shifting the Shadow Demons to the other Plane to use their remaining 0.5 for another move there. If the Spirit is then sent to the corresponding tile on its own Plane, this process can be repeated every turn by shifting the Demons back into the stack before moving. Since Shadow Demons only take up an Uncommon Spell slot, this strategy is quite open to variations. For the Rare choice, , , and are more viable than the other options in terms of being useful for assaulting enemy capitals that grew too strong for the Shadow Demons by the time they are found. Similarly, the Uncommon can also weaken an opposing army, but it should be noted that casting both it and in the same battle takes quite a bit of prior investment into Spell Casting Skill to be possible, and the latter spell is generally more helpful for Shadow Demons. Alternatively, can take the edge out of a rival Fortress' defense, although it may take multiple casts for this to work, as the AIs tend to accumulate progressively more rapidly as the game's Difficulty is increased. Finally, make decent scouts and excellent Node guardians if the game is expected to drag out for some time. They may be somewhat costly to summon, but their Upkeep Cost is minimal - only per turn. Lairs containing the following creatures can be attacked with a single Shadow Demons unit: *War Bears *Sprites (except in Nodes) *Giant Spiders *Earth Elemental *Nagas *Phantom Warriors *Phantom Beast *Fire Elemental *Hell Hounds (except in Nodes) *Guardian Spirit *Unicorns *Angel *Skeletons *Zombies *Ghouls *Demon *Night Stalker *Werewolves Life IGS - Invulnerable Guardian Spirits Spells to select: (Rare), (Uncommon), (Uncommon) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per unit), per battle This is the fastest known way to win the game. Guardian Spirits are the second cheapest native Ocean-faring Fantastic Units after . They also move twice as fast as low-tier Lizardmen Normal Units, the only other real contenders that could be used in this strategy. Since the same unit can be used for both scouting and conquest, and its power comes from another spell, not the unit itself, the game can be started much more quickly than if an expensive creature was summoned instead. In fact, multiple Spirits (typically two) may be summoned and sent out before the first major cast. As a result, by the time the Invulnerability spell is cast, the player will not only have an idea of their surroundings, but will likely already know which Spirit to target, and have it in position and ready for battle immediately afterwards. Invulnerability's fixed Conventional Damage reduction of is immensely powerful in the early game. Most Normal Units have to get lucky just to do this much, without even considering the granted through the Weapon Immunity effect, which can block another on average when it applies. Because of this, generally only Fantastic Creatures and spells are able to harm an Invulnerable Guardian Spirit. As such, the above calculations include a running Unit Enchantment, which provides a worthwhile Defense bonus against many of these. Further included is , which effectively doubles the Movement Allowance of the Guardian Spirit. This is also a cornerstone of this strategy, and one of the reasons why it is the fastest method to win the game. Moving 4 tiles per turn, the Spirits have the absolute highest potential to reach every opposing Fortress before the AI Wizards could muster any significant force to defend them. An example order of casting would be Guardian Spirit, Endurance, Guardian Spirit, Endurance, Invulnerability, and Bless, followed by either a Plane Shift, more Spirits, or the second Invulnerability, based on the circumstances - mainly the availability of more . It may be worth noting though, that if the Spirits do take , the initial Spell Casting Skill is not enough for a spell after a has been cast. However, it does still allow for a combination of and , making weak Encounter Zones featuring low-level creatures a viable alternative to neutral Towns if the Guardian Spirit needs to be topped up before a major battle. Torin Spells to select: (Rare) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn With and , Torin the Chosen is fairly invincible when he enters the game early. However, this strategy has several flaws, the most notable one being the lack of Ocean-faring capability. Without a Magical Item granting him , , or , Torin has to rely on Transport ships, which may or may not be possible to build in a starting Town. Granted, if the capital is by the seaside, the total cost of to create a Trireme is probably manageable in the time it takes to summon the Chosen. However, founding a new Outpost for this purpose will typically take much longer. Alternatively, it may be possible to utilize the spell to go from Arcanus land to Myrror land to another continent on Arcanus, but this not only takes luck and requires scouting beforehand, it also ties in with another problem: the amount of Uncommon Spells required. Normally, choosing is highly recommended, as it greatly increases Torin's survivability, and thus the difficulty of the encounters he can safely take on. However, his greatest overall weakness is against Illusion Damage, which requires yet another Uncommon Spell, , to counter. Only two of these three can actually be selected at the start, the third one has to be acquired from Treasure, conquest, or Spell Research. Finally, unlike nearly all of the other strategies listed here, this one is not scalable. Since the Chosen is unique, another one may not be summoned even if resources do become available. This can quickly become a limiting factor in progress, ultimately resulting in a much slower victory. Lionheart Elites Spells to select: (Rare) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per unit) Lionheart is arguably the strongest stat-boosting Unit Enchantment in the game. Combined with the Common , it can turn even a basic Normal Unit into a powerful combat force. In addition, the also Common , , , and spells may further enhance this, albeit at a cost of quite a bit of extra , both in Casting- and Upkeep Costs. However, most of these spells share the common trait of being increasingly more beneficial the more the target unit has, making them ideal for use on low-tier Normal Units. Originally conceived with Halfling Slingers in mind, this strategy is, of course, not necessary limited to them. However, they probably are the best targets, due to the combination of having the maximum possible count of , being a Ranged Attack unit, and possessing the very strong Lucky ability, that amplifies the effects of any bonus they receive to Attack Strength or Defense. On the other hand, Slingers are fairly expensive early on, requiring a total of to create the first one in the starting Town, which typically takes at least twice as long as casting the two main spells. As such, it may be worth considering enhancing and using the initial Swordsmen in the interim. Other good alternatives include Longbowmen, which allow keeping the High Elves as the capital Race; Gnoll melee units, that can be mass-produced cheaply and will have incredibly powerful Melee Attacks with these enchantments; Barbarians, who receive a double benefit to their Attack Strength because of their , and may be able to eliminate enemy units without being hit as a result; or Lizardmen, who can overcome one of the most significant shortcomings of this strategy - the lack of innate Ocean-faring capability. As far as the Uncommon Spell picks go, and are fairly obvious choices, although also has merit if melee units are being used. It should be noted though, that this strategy has another weakness: its heavy reliance on Enchantments. Going up against a rival Wizard late enough for them to be able to dispel the Lionheart can result in some serious setbacks. Altar of Battle Spells to select: (Rare) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per Town) This strategy relies on pumping out cheap, cost-efficient units by exploiting rushed Altars of Battle. There are two Races that match the criteria of having a racial combat advantage without an increased cost for their Normal Units: Gnolls and Lizardmen. Although the tactic may also be attempted with other Races, it will likely be less effective, as units take longer to create. Gnoll Spearmen can quickly swarm across the land in the early game, overwhelming superior classes of units, Wizards, and Fantastic Creatures by just themselves thanks to their innate Attack Strength bonus. The player can also choose to divert their attentions to Myrror instead (whilst fortifying the Fortress on Arcanus) using to easily conquer the more lucrative Races and Encounter Zones. Indeed, even if the player encounters Sss'ra, he can quickly fall alone to these Gnoll armies early enough in the game. However, this Race does not have an easy way to cross to other continents, and may thus have problems on maps with smaller Land Size settings. Alternatively, Lizardmen may also be a good choice as they can across Oceans. Lizardmen Spearmen are much sturdier for the same cost, having a higher ( vs at level) and more ( vs per ). However, their lower Attack Strength can quickly become an issue ( vs ), especially considering that this attribute can not be enhanced by low-level spells, although the chance may be improved. For both Races though, and are arguably the best Uncommon Spells to pick. Nature Iron Skinned Basilisks Spells to select: (Rare), (Uncommon), (Uncommon) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per unit) Basilisks are sturdy creatures to begin with, and Iron Skin raises their Defense to a level that is only surpassed by top-tier units. The combination of Path Finding and (a Common Spell) allows them to move over any terrain at a rate of 4 tiles per turn, a figure matched only by two of the other strategies listed here - with one of those requiring a heavy delay before being able to produce even a single unit. The main drawback is that this combination has a fairly high Upkeep Cost total, making subsequent creatures more difficult to get into play. Basilisks are by no means invincible either. While they have plenty of , and their Gaze Attack will prevent a lot of Melee Damage, they are vulnerable to Special Damage, Illusion Damage, and units with Stoning Immunity in general. They will often still be able to find a Tower of Wizardry that they can clear to get to Myrror, but taking can cause significant delays until a healing spell is acquired. Gorgons Spells to select: (Rare), (Uncommon) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per unit) Gorgons are the strongest Rare creatures overall. They can easily destroy low- and mid-tier units, anywhere on the map, and have fairly good survivability, which can be further enhanced with and to help against . However, Gorgons are quite expensive to maintain even without any Unit Enchantments, so finding additional sources of is particularly important for this strategy. may be a good choice for the last Uncommon Spell slot, as it can help eliminate creatures that would otherwise pose a threat to the Gorgons. Sorcery Flying Invisible Warships Spells to select: (Rare), (Uncommon) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per unit) This is a very slow strategy compared to the others, as it requires building a Sawmill, Shipwrights' Guild, Ship Yard, Armory, and Maritime Guild before the first Warship can be constructed - at a hefty cost of , with an additional to build each ship. Worse yet, the first two of these Town Buildings also have terrain requirements, which means that there is a chance that they can not both be built in the starting Town. And as if that was not enough, only three Races can actually produce Warships: Barbarians, High Men, and Orcs. As such, the game must be started with one of these, since this is the only way of ensuring that any of them will be available on a map. The reason this strategy is included here despite all of these issues is that if the hurdles can be overcome, and the player survives to see the first ship, this combination is incredibly powerful. Unlike any other ranged unit, Warships do not run out of ammunition, and can keep firing their Ranged Attacks from the beginning to the end of every battle, even if it takes the maximum amount of 50 turns. In addition, no immunity in the official game works against their , and with and Invisibility, they can completely avoid all opposition apart from two of the highest tier Fantastic Units. They also have Long Range, and will thus never suffer more than a penalty regardless of how far away they are from their target. There are two more Uncommon Spells that can significantly aid this strategy, although only one of them can be selected at the beginning. affects Warships even if they are , allowing them to move an outstanding 6 tiles per turn, both overland and in battle. However, may actually be the better initial choice, as the ships can become completely stranded should an opponent manage to dispel their Flight. It's worth remembering though, that because of its bugs, this spell must always be cast on the overland map to have any effect in the official game. Alternatively, taking instead allows for a steadier early game, as any unit enchanted with Flight can move 3 tiles per turn and potentially summon these in combat. This greatly increases combat versatility as opposed to having only the Common Spell repertoire, and should ensure continuous conquest even before the Warships arrive. Since all Common Spells found in Treasure are automatically raised to the next available Spell Rarity anyway, an early start provides a fairly good chance of finding one or both of the above spells by the time they become useful. Flying Storm Giants Spells to select: (Rare), (Uncommon), (Uncommon) Cost / Upkeep: initial / per turn (per unit) While Storm Giants are not as durable as some of the other Realms' contenders here, they are still quite powerful, and can both capture neutral Towns and clear weaker Encounter Zones. Flight allows them to cross Oceans, and prevents most Normal Units from voluntarily engaging them. However, since it can only make 4 Ranged Attacks per battle, no matter how powerful those are, some enemies will often remain, forcing the Giant to enter melee instead. At that point, a Phantom Beast can work wonders to either further weaken, or outright destroy the opposition, possibly saving the Storm Giant from the inevitable Counter Attack it will take from anything stronger than the lowest tier units. Alternatively, Phantom Warriors might also fill this role, although they deal less and have fewer than a Beast. Category:Strategy